Final Fantasy Secrets Of Magic Chapter One
by palisade
Summary: This is the first chapter of the first story in my Final Fantasy Trilogy.


Sun had just set over Stone Island and not a minute sooner had Kaden sat down on the freshly cut grass. The night sky was a deep purple, with it slowly getting brighter until the horizon cut it off. The sky was filled with stars, slowly starting to shine, like a light bulb. Kaden laid down onto the grass, and sighed. The sky grew deeper into the night as a million thoughts buzzed around his head. He must have been laying there for nearly an hour before he realised that he had done the same as he had done for the last 3 months. The sky was now being illuminated by the millions of stars, scattered around as if they were each part of a pattern.

The grass had been smoothly cut, so it looked as if a green blanket had been laid down onto a stone cold floor. The edges had been stapled down using flowers, and the flower banks had been so neatly arranged, it looked no older than the day it was made.

Kaden looked up, and set his eyes on one particular star. It wasn't a star; it was the third moon of Gaia. His eyes where often fixated upon them, as his dreams laid on that moons surface. All he ever wanted was to fly into space, but it wasn't possible. No one had ever been in space, not since the fall of Panzero's nation, which was about to test out space travel when the Great War overtook their concerns.

"Kaden!" cried out a voice from the shadows. The garden area wasn't brightly light, only processing a few lamps, but since the garden was unusually lit by the light from the sun, there wasn't much need for many lamps.

Kaden turned his head, so it faced in the direction of the voice. A figure was revealed from the shadows.  
"Cid… what are you doing here?" Kaden dragged himself to his feet. The figure revealed himself as a medium height, skinny boy. He was wearing a long cloak, and had pulled it over his head, so he couldn't be easily identified. He pulled it down once Kaden had responded.

"It's past 10. We've got an early start tomorrow, due to end of term." Cid sat down on a bench. It was illuminated by a single lamp, burning brightly into the night sky. Kaden walked over, and zipped up his long cloak.

"I know…" Kaden sighed as he sat down onto the bench. His sword was revealed as he slightly bent down, so his back no longer was resting on the bench back. It was held onto his back using a strap and holder, which covered up most of the sword.

"We've got an early start tomorrow. Don't ask me why, I think it's to do with the war." Cid explained.

"Oh, yeah, the war… it's buggered up really. Why can't two nations get along?" Kaden stressed.

"Difference of opinions" Cid answered.

"Well, d'uh, if they didn't have a different opinion to things, we wouldn't have this war." Kaden laughed slightly. He stood up, and scratched his back. He undid his strap that held his long sword onto his back, and laid the sword onto the bench. The visible part of it reflected a long line of light onto Kaden's face, as he sat down. He sighed again.

"Think we'll ever have peace?" Cid asked.

"Not for a while… I've just got a feeling…" Kaden muttered.

"Sorry?" Cid clearly hadn't heard him.

"Nothing…" Kaden sighed again. He looked as if he had a lot of things flying through his thoughts at the moment.

"What?" Cid was curious to know.

"You know those dreams I've been having? One of them was in a battlefield, and it was me defending myself from Marc's attacks, and thousands of soldiers clashing swords surrounding us…" Kaden revealed.

Cid laughed.  
"What?"

"You. Those dreams, I mean, dreams mean nothing… they can mean anything." Cid laughed again.

"Ones that I've been having for months upon months now?"

"Yeah." Cid answered quickly. "Dreams tell us our hopes, our wishes… our desires."

"Not this crap again…" Kaden laughed, as he stood up. He dragged his sword's strap over his shoulder, and fastened it. He zipped his long cloak up, and turned to walk away.

"Kade…" Cid stood up too. "You heading back?"

"Yeah"

Kaden hastily opened the old wooden doors that separated the school from the rest of the world, and closed them no sooner had he walked through them. They where old and barely hanging onto its hinges, yet they stood tall and proud. They hid a school behind them, which on first impressions looked old, yet modern. Kaden walked through the main hallway that was covered head to toe with decorations. The doors opened once more. A screeching squeak that the door made forced Kaden to turn around. Cid had followed him.

"What have we got first?" Kaden asked.

"First thing tomorrow?" Cid questioned.

"Yeah"

"Chocobo studies, and then Braeden's class." Cid answered. "We've got the afternoon off, by the way."

"Ah… that means I can go and see Boko." Kaden planned. "It's been too long since I last went. Goddamn tests."

"Yeah… well, at least we haven't got anymore of them, not for another year." Cid laughed. He was obviously pleased that there were no more exams.

"Yeah. I still I don't understand why he have a prom." Kaden and Cid discussed whilst walking down the hallway. It seemed never-ending.

"Signals the start of our 'senior' status." Cid slightly unzipped his jacket, and then pulled the hood down, revealing his face.

"Load of old crap, if you ask me. Status's…" Kaden laughed before he could finish the sentence. His laugh was deep, but not loud.

"Yeah." Cid noticed that he had reached his destination, and turned left. Kaden followed. "So, you got a date for it?" Cid asked.

"No." Kaden laughed silently. "You?"

"Yeah… Ruby." Cid began to get red.

"Ruby? How the hell did you get her to go with you?" Kaden asked.

"I have no idea." Cid laughed. His laugh was heard, unlike Kaden's. "Are you just going to go and have a good time?"

"No, I'm going to get wasted." Kaden revealed. He laughed when he saw Cid had taken it seriously. "I dunno. To be honest, I don't want to go."

"Why not?"

"Because all it will be is couples tongue wrestling all night and slow dances." Kaden answered.

"I hope…" Cid began to glow as red as the sun that lit up Gaia everyday.

"Corny bastard." Kaden joked, slightly pushing Cid.

"Okay… a little left… not that far… there you go. Now, lower it." A worker directed. He had two large beacon like lamps in his hands, and he was using them to navigate to the person who was working the large crane. A large thud was heard as the large box crashed down into its selected place. All the locks began to click into place. "Okay, now… open the door in front of it" another worker called out. He was wearing the same as the other worker. The area was very dark, not light enough to pick out any significant details, but you could tell the atmosphere was electric. Judging from the level of security, it was obvious this wasn't a normal mission. A hissing sound was heard as the pneumatic valves behind the door activated, and the opened the door.

"Congratulations on a safe and successful mission" where the whispers slowly breaking the silence in the room.

"Hurry along!" hissed a security guard inside the chamber. As the mist began to clear, out from the shadows came a man. He had short grey hair, and was secured by layers of iron chains. He was handcuffed to two guards, one at each side of him. They stood up, dragging him along with them. He sighed. Then, something caught his attention. There was a broken pipe to the right of the first guard. He remembered it was broken when he was dragged into the hope-ending chamber before the journey.

"Hey… can I have one?" were the words spoken from the prisoner. He nodded towards the packet of cigarettes just visible from the first guard's front jacket pocket. The security guard looked at them, chuckled, and then agreed. He withdrew the cigarettes from his pocket, and opened them up. There were only 2 left, but he still gave the prisoner one.

"This will be the last you'll have for a hell of a long time" the guard taunted as he handed the cigarette to the prisoner. The prisoner opened his mouth as the guard placed the cig into his mouth. He then pulled out a lighter from his pocket. He opened it up, and a small flame appeared, burning brightly. It lit up the inside of the chamber, to reveal nothing more than a couple of seats, containing padlocks, where the prisoner was held into place. As the guard held the lighter out, the prisoner pushed himself over, causing the two guards to bump into the first one, sending him straight in the direction of the broken pipe. The guard fell hard against the wall, dropping the lighter into the pool of liquid on the floor. It was set alight instantly, burning the first guard, who screamed as he slowly died a painful death. The second guard unlocked the handcuff to see to the first guard, who was already dead. The prisoner then reached over to the third guard, who was knocked out. He grabbed the set of keys and unlocked himself before the second guard could stop him. He blocked a punch, then punched the guard back.

"Watara!" he shouted as he held his hands out towards the blazing fire. A tide of water flowed from his hands, putting out the fire instantly. He turned towards the opposite wall, and shouted out "Flare". A large, fire like ball appeared from his hands, creating a hole in the wall. He leapt out of it.

"Hey! Stop him!" shouted a security guard. The prisoner unleashed another ball, this time at the guard. It sent him flying. The guards all arranged themselves into a curve shape, and withdrew their guns.

"Put your hands… up in the air" said one of the guards. The prisoner did exactly that, but as he did that, he whispered to himself "Ultima". Slowly, colourful energy began to form at his hands, which where tilted backwards, so the guards couldn't esily see. Anyway, their staring eyes where focused on the prisoner's face, mainly on his eyes. He then lowered his hand.

"ULTIMA!"

The sound of pouring water was heard, as Kaden cupped his hands, and splashed his face with the clear, pure water. He gasped, and washed his face again.

"Not again…" He gasped.

Grabbing a towel, he dried his face, and the dripping water that was making the marble floor slippery. He walked out of the bathroom, and slung the now moist towel onto his messy bed. He grabbed some clothes out of the pile of them on his floor, and pulled them onto him.

"Cid! I'm going, okay?" Kaden yelled into the next bedroom, as he grabbed his sword and fastened the covers strap over his shoulder. A muffled response was heard, as Kaden opened the dormitory door, shutting it no sooner as he had walked out of it.

He slowly walked down the dormitory hallway. The hallway was full to its skin with doors, leading to other bedrooms. When he finally reached the main dormitory, he turned right, leading further down the decoration filled, and endless corridor. He looked to the right, and noticed a picture of the former head teacher, and his head teacher's weapon of choice; a gunblade. It was more or less the same as Kaden's, except less tilted at the handle of the blade. Under it, a plaque was displayed, baring the words "Today's generation will be tomorrow's memories. Use your time wisely." Kaden turned down another corridor, then knocked at a door. He entered after hearing "Enter."

"Hello Kaden, what can I do for you?" A young woman asked, as she shut the partly open door. She was slightly smaller than Kaden, and just a bit younger, but looked a lot older than Kaden.

"I need a fresh bandage." He lifted his shirt up, to reveal a blood soaked bandage covering up his left ribs, and most of his abdomen. "It's bled again."

"Is it healing?" the woman asked.

"I think so, Ms. Florae" Kaden answered.

"Kaden, what have I told you, please don't call me that, it sounds too formal." The woman scalded.

"Sorry, Saffron. Could you have a look please?" Kaden asked.

"Yes, lay down on the settee, and I'll have a look" Saffron walked over to her cupboards, and opened a draw. She withdrew a pair of disposable gloves, and placed them on her hands. Kaden had taken his baggy shirt off, and laid down on the settee. It was a very hard settee, more like a physiotherapist's. She walked up to him slowly, and then slowly lifted his bandage above his stomach. His stomach was covered in blood.

"I guess I laid on it badly." Kaden joked.

"No kidding. It's split open at the top. It's not a problem, it's just going to be a little painfully and you will not be able to move your left arm for a few hours." Saffron analysed.

"Damn… it's Braeden's class after Chocobo class, and we have to fight a monster today." Kaden cursed.

"Well, you are going to miss Chocobo class, I can tell you that now. I'll ask Braeden to excuse you." Saffron looked deeply at his wound. "Marc's messed this up badly. This is what you get for fighting with him."

"Whatever…" Kaden laughed. He then groaned with pain as Saffron started to touch his wound. She clutched a nearby knife, and cut the bandages. She mopped up some of the blood, and then asked him to sit up slightly. Blood began to pour out of his wound. Saffron laid the bandage onto the settee, then asked Kaden to lay down. She fastened up the bandage. She asked Kaden to lay down for a while, before letting him go.

"Okay class, today you are going to individually fight a monster. Now, because our region isn't full of strong monsters, none of the monsters that you will fight are particularly harmful." Braeden instructed. "Now, Kaden, I see you have been injured, but I still want you to participate."

"How?" Kaden asked.

"Cid, can he borrow your guns?" Braeden asked.

"Er… sure buddy." Cid quickly gave Kaden a tutorial of how to use his guns.

"Now we've got that settled, would you like to go first Kaden?" Braeden asked.

"Not really, but I'll do it." Kaden stepped forward. He looked towards the forest which protected the school from the rest of the world. It had an opening, but that was at the other side of the school.

"Now what?" Kaden asked.

"Wait a minute…" Braeden blew his whistle. Seconds later, a small monster with wings appeared.

"It's a 'One Eye', so be careful. They can fly quicker than we can run." Braeden advised. Kaden tossed his left gun back to Cid, because he knew he couldn't use it. He tilted his right gun, and aimed at the bat-looking-monster. As he unleashed a shot, the monster spread out his wings, and flew up out of the bullets path. Kaden muttered to himself, as he aimed once more. Like before, the One Eye flew out of the bullets path. Kaden then had an idea. He aimed a little right to the monster, that had perched itself onto a tree branch. As the bullet hit the tree, One Eye moved slightly, so it was now in the path of the bullet that had just be fired. Kaden unleashed another bullet, felling the One Eye.

"Well Done!" Braeden congratulated. He walked over to the fallen monster, checking its stomach. He removed the bullet, and shouted Cure. A white light appeared, and the Iguion stood up unharmed after it disappeared.

"Hey… sorry buddy, I didn't mean to hurt you." Cid apologised, walking up to the monster. He removed some food from his belt and fed it to the One Eye. The monster ate it happily, and ran back into the forest.

"Who wants to go next?" Braeden asked. No one responded.

"No one?" Braeden looked disappointed, looking around. "Marc, you can go."

Marc kissed his girlfriend, and withdrew his sword. He held it at a 45 degree angle, ready for any attack that could come.

"Lets see…" Braeden muttered to himself.

A small figure appeared. It was blobby looking, and blue coloured.

"Oh, a Blobla!" Braeden looked surprised.

"Okay… watch this…" Marc looked ever confident. "Thunder!" Marc held his open palm in the air, as a small thundercloud appeared over the monster. It unleashed a thunderbolt, KO'ing the monster in one hit.

"Not bad… not bad at all" Braeden congratulated.

"You expected anything less?" Marc sniggered, looking extremely confident.

Braeden didn't respond.

After the rest of the class had fought a monster, it was Cid's turn. "Cid… your turn" The teacher asked.

"Sure thing Braeden." Cid withdrew his guns, and stood tall, at the edge of the forest, that separated Eclipseira from the rest of the world. A small wolf-like creature appeared.

"Oh! It's an Iguion." Braeden lectured. "Be careful of their attacks, they can poison you… have you got an antidote, for in case?"

"Sure thing mate…" Cid looked confident. He raised one of his guns, and unleashed a bullet. It hit the Iguion, but didn't cause too much damage.

"Wha…?" Cid was surprised.

"Use an armour piercing bullet…" Braeden offered advice.

Cid opened the barrel of his gun, and took out two of the bullets that were in their. He withdrew his other gun to his belt, and removed a bullet that was a deep gold coloured from his belt. He loaded it into his gun, and shut it, so he could fire it again. He looked up, to see the Iguion gone. He looked around desperately, for in case it was behind him. The Iguion had climbed up into a tree, and was ready to pounce onto Cid.

Cid constantly turned around, hoping to see the monster.

"Quwaaaaaa!" The Iguion leapt from the tree and was mid air when Cid noticed it. He fell back, shooting the Iguion in the stomach. It fell from mid air to the ground.

"Well Done!" Braeden congratulated. He walked over to the fallen monster, checking its stomach. He removed the bullet, and shouted Cure. A white light appeared, and the Iguion stood up unharmed after it disappeared.

"Hey, Braeden, you better have a look at this" Saffron pointed to the desk as Braeden walked into his classroom. He was humming to himself, and had a cup of steaming hot coffee in his right hand.

"It's today's newspaper?" Braeden asked.

"Indeed." Saffron sighed. Braeden walked to his desk, and looked at the piece of parchment that covered up a large part of his desk. He gasped, then dropped his coffee. It smashed as it impacted upon the floor. Coffee spread in all directions on his stone cold floor.

"Shit…" Braeden cursed.

"Indeed." Saffron sighed.

"You think he'll try to do what he did before?" Braeden asked.

"I don't know. But this is definitely not good news." Saffron sighed again.

"If he gets hold of any of the crystals…" Braeden began.

"He will not get hold of any of them. We have a good security, unlike before…" Saffron interrupted.

"I sincerely hope so." Braeden prayed, as he and Saffron began to read more of the article.


End file.
